ON  PODOPHYLLUM. 
301 
crystallizable  at  common  temperatures ;  secondly— that  the  cap- 
sicin  of  Buchholtz  and  Braconnot,  contains  both  of  these  sub- 
stances in  combination  with  an  inert  fatty  substance  ;  and 
thirdly — that  the  substance  obtained  by  Professor  Procter,  from 
their  capsicin,  by  precipitating  the  fatty  matter,  is  the  true 
capsicin,  containing  both  of  the  oily  substances,  and  being,  there- 
fore, the  most  concentrated  form,  in  which  the  properties  of 
capsicum  can  be  obtained. 
ON  PODOPHYLLUM 
By  John  W.  Cadbury. 
(Presented  to  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy,  March,  1858.) 
The  rhizoma  of  the  May-apple,  [Podophyllum  peltatum]  a  plant 
growing  wild,  in  great  abundance,  in  all  sections  of  the  United 
States,  where  a  shady  wood  with  a  damp  soil  can  be  found,  has 
for  a  long  time  been  known  to  possess  very  decided  medicinal 
virtue.  The  framers  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  have  given  it  a  place 
among  the  officinal  drugs,  and  have  also  made  an  extract  officinal 
showing  the  esteem  in  which  it  has  been  held.  But  in  the  opinion 
of  many,  the  podophyllum  has  not  received  that  consideration 
which  its  efficient  remedial  powers  would  seem  to  demand. 
Recently,  however,  the  attention  of  scientific  men  has  been 
more  particularly  called  to  this  drug,  as  the  idea  has  been  enter- 
tained that  its  resin  might  take  the  place  of  the  scammony  in 
the  Compound  Extract  of  Colocynth,  and  that  an  extract  of  the 
root  could  supersede  the  use  of  the  Extract  of  Jalap,  in  the 
Compound  Cathartic  Pill.  Some  advantages  would  accrue  from 
such  a  substitution,  especially  in  the  case  of  the  scammony  ; 
since,  owing  to  the  many  adulterations  to  which  it  is  subject, 
preparations  containing  it  must  necessarily  be  effected  to  a  cer- 
tain extent.  The  cost  of  the  preparation  would  also  be  very 
materially  diminished. 
This  subject  is  one  of  those  which,  at  the  late  annual  meet- 
ing of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association,  was  proposed 
for  solution  ;  since  there  is  a  possibility  that  the  podophyllum 
alone  may  not  be  able  to  represent  to  the  full  extent  the  action 
on  the  system,  caused  by  the  combination  of  the  two  drugs, 
scammony  and  jalap.    Previous  investigations  into  the  composi- 
